Treachery of the Blue Books facts for kids

This image shows a page from the Blue Books. It says the Welsh language was a "vast drawback" to Wales.

The Reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of Education in Wales are famous government reports from 1847. People in Wales often call them the "Treason of the Blue Books" (Welsh: Brad y Llyfrau Gleision) or just the "Blue Books." These reports caused a huge upset in Wales. They were very critical of the Welsh people, their language, and their religious groups (called Nonconformists).

The name Brad y Llyfrau Gleision comes from a play written seven years later. This play made fun of the reports and those who helped create them. This name became so popular that everyone in Wales still uses it today. Some people, like author Simon Brooks, see the Blue Books as a "colonial diktat." This means they were like strict rules forced on Wales by the British government.

Why the Blue Books Happened

In the 1800s, there was a lot of trouble and unrest in Wales. There were riots in places like Merthyr and the Rebecca Riots. The British government wanted to understand why this was happening. They thought that better education might help solve these problems.

At that time, going to school was not required. Most schools were run by churches, charities, or private people. The government believed that education should mostly be in English. They also thought Wales needed more trained teachers.

Most people in Wales spoke only Welsh back then. Only in industrial areas like Cardiff did people speak both Welsh and English. The three people sent to Wales to check on education were English. They did not know anything about the Welsh language, Welsh Nonconformist religions, or how to teach children from working-class families. Because of this, some historians say the report made the Welsh education system seem worse than it was.

The Inquiry: How They Gathered Information

The idea for this official investigation came from William Williams. He was a Welshman and a Member of Parliament who cared about education in Wales. The government chose three young English lawyers to be the main investigators. They visited Wales in 1846.

These main investigators did not speak Welsh. However, many Welsh-speaking assistants helped them. These assistants visited schools, villages, and towns. The inquiry only looked at schools for working-class children. Schools for richer children were not included. The investigators seemed to take what Anglican (Church of England) people said more seriously. They sometimes ignored what Nonconformists said, even though Wales was mostly Nonconformist at the time.

What the Report Said

The report was finished in 1847. It was printed in three large blue books. This is why they are called the "Blue Books." The full title was very long, but it basically said the report was about education in Wales, especially for working-class people learning English.

Sunday Schools and Day Schools

The report noted that Sunday Schools were very important in Wales. They were often the only schools available in many areas. For example, in one region, 30,000 children went to day school, but 80,000 went to Sunday school.

The report also said that Welsh parents wanted their children to learn English. It found that English was already being taught in schools. The main goal of many Welsh schools was to teach English. The authors of the report criticized rich landowners, church leaders, and business owners. They said these groups did not do enough to provide schools.

The report concluded that schools in Wales were very poor. Teachers often spoke only English and used English books, even when the children only spoke Welsh. This meant Welsh speakers had to rely on Nonconformist Sunday Schools to learn to read and write. The report also claimed that the Welsh language and Nonconformist religions were part of the problem.

The investigators often just wrote down the biased opinions of landowners and local Anglican church leaders. These people were sometimes jealous of the success of the Nonconformist chapels. The harshest criticisms of Welsh culture often came from one of the main investigators, Ralph Lingen, and his team. Historian John Davies said they asked difficult questions, used bad translations, and misunderstood the children's answers.

School Statistics

The report included many facts and figures. These numbers did not include Sunday schools or schools for richer children.

Here is a table showing the languages used for teaching in the 1,657 schools they looked at:

• North Wales included Anglesey, Caernarfon, Denbigh, Flint, Merioneth, and Montgomery.
• Central Wales included Brecon, Cardigan, and Radnor.
• South Wales included Glamorgan, Carmarthen, and Pembroke.

The report also showed the different types of schools and how many students they had (not including Monmouth):

Before late 1846, the government did not pay for schools in Wales or England. Schools relied on fees and donations.

How Wales Reacted

The publication of the Blue Books caused a huge and angry reaction in Wales. This anger lasted for many years. People saw the Church of England leaders as enemies. Strong Anglicans disagreed with the report. Then came funny attacks and challenges to the facts from people like Evan Jones (Ieuan Gwynedd), a Nonconformist journalist.

Nonconformist leaders like Henry Richard gave powerful speeches. Welsh journalists wrote angry articles in their magazines. Many people believed that only Nonconformists were truly Welsh.

Over time, Wales saw campaigns against bad behavior. People agreed that some changes were needed. Evan Jones suggested that the Welsh nation had been unfairly criticized for religious reasons, not national ones. Leaders held large meetings to protest the insults in the reports.

The Famous Play

Seven years after the report came out, a poet named Robert Jones Derfel published a play. It was called Brad y Llyfrau Gleision ("Treason of the Blue Books"). The play made fun of the government investigators and the Welsh people who gave them information.

The play starts in Hell, where the Devil decides the Welsh people are too good. He plans to bring them down. The "treason" in the play is committed by Welsh churchgoers and clergy. Derfel and others thought their evidence helped the Blue Books make anti-Welsh judgments. The play was so popular that the reports have been known by its title ever since.

The play's title connected the blue covers of the reports to an older Welsh myth. This myth was The Treason of the Long Knives (Brad y Cyllyll Hirion). That story was about the Anglo-Saxons tricking the native Britons. The word Brad means "treason," "treachery," "betrayal," or "deceit."

What Happened Next

The Blue Books are still important today. They give us information about Welsh society in the mid-1800s, even if they are biased.

Saunders Lewis, a famous Welsh nationalist, said the Blue Books were the most important historical documents of the 1800s for Wales. He believed they made Wales a more bilingual country. This was because they pushed for learning English as a second language. The reports and the anger they caused also led to Nonconformists getting more involved in Welsh politics.

Critics like Evan Jones and Henry Richard became well-known for their strong criticisms of the reports. Over time, these criticisms turned into organized political action. This led to big changes in the general election of 1868.

See also

• Welsh Not
• Elen Egryn
• Education (Scotland) Act 1872